Team Heatstroke
by The Bellmaker
Summary: When team 8 ventures into the desert, they still don't shed their coats... Oneshot


**A/N: Well, I haven't really been sleeping recently, and I got this idea last night, WAY too early in the morning to still be awake. It amused me. So, a quick oneshot of Team 8.**

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_Team Heatstroke_

_A Naruto Oneshot_

Kurenai looked over her team. "Good news! We have a mission!" She said, cheerily. Much too cheerily, all told, since it was only six in the morning.

"..." Hinata said, and yawned. She flushed, realizing how rude she had been, but didn't start apologizing...it was too early in the morning.

"Hell yeah! This'll be totally kick-ass!" Kiba yelled, pumping a fist. Akamaru barked. Turned out he's a real morning person.

Shino simply raised his eyebrow.

"It is a C-ranked courier mission to Sunagakure," She paused for Kiba's excited shout, "So get your gear ready, and meet me at the gates in two hours." She fixed them all with a stern glare. "Don't be late."

The three genin nodded, and dashed off to prepare for the trip. Kurenai smiled, remembering when she had been an eager genin. Was it really so long ago?

As eight rolled around, she arrived at the gates to find her team had beat her there. She expertly hid her surprise as she made a sweeping gesture toward the forest beyond. "Well? Are you ready to go?"

Immediately Kiba shouted, "Yeah!" His more restrained teammates simply nodded.

They set out, leaping into the trees, and traveling in this manner, reached the border by sunset. The next day, however, wasn't nearly as uneventful. Kurenai was quite surprised when her team emerged from their tents in...the same clothes they always wore. The same heavy, furlined jackets...well, except for Shino. His jacket was fur-free.

The Jonin hesitated for a moment, but shrugged and gestured. "Let's go."

She was just beginning to think that she had been worried about nothing, a few hours later, when Hinata giggled. This warning sign went almost unnoticed by the team, until Hinata removed her jacket, instantly distracting Kiba. The shirt she was wearing underneath was mostly responsible for this, as the primarily-mesh garment did its best to highlight her...assets. The fact that she immediately stretched her arms over her head and arched her back - presumably to stretch her back - certainly contributed to the problem, however. So, while Shino's eyebrows simply seemed to be trying to migrate to his scalp, Kiba tripped over his own feet and ate sand, catapulting Akamaru from his perch atop Kiba's head into a nearby sand dune.

Hinata was very concerned. "Eep! Kiba-kun, are you all right?" She asked, helping him up. She didn't seem to notice the small trickle of blood coming from his nose.

"Er...yeah. Fine. Just great." Kiba said, disjointedly, alternating between ogling her chest and looking everywhere but there. Kurenai honestly couldn't find it in her to be mad at him for it, even. He was young, and he was trying. She couldn't really expect any more from him...not to mention it was just too hot to bother. Then he yelped, "Hinata?! W-what are you doing?"

She had taken a firm grip on his jacket, and moved closer still to him. "Aren't you hot in that jacket? Let me help you with it..." She practically _purred_ at him, working to strip him of his outer layer. He was fighting it, but not very well, and the only reason he was still fully clothed was the fact his zipper had caught some of the fur of his jacket and snagged halfway down.

Neither Kurenai nor Shino were quite willing to interfere, considering how strangely Hinata was acting, and to be honest, she was frightening them a bit. Shino gathered his courage, and took a step closer. "Hinata...? Are you...feeling alright?"

She turned on him and before anyone could quite register the fact that she had moved, she was right up agianst Shino, one hand actually _inside his coat._ "I feel fantastic! And I've never felt as good as how I do right now, except maybe when I think of how felt that day, when I felt the way that I do right now! I feel fantastic!" Her face was hovering very close to Shino's when...she simply fell over, slumping onto him, the arm inside his coat wrapping around him. He caught her automatically, and stood very still, his concealed face betraying nothing, but still somehow radiating an aura of intense confusion.

Kurenai couldn't help but laugh. Kiba just seemed relieved that it wasn't him anymore, as he unjammed his zipper and fixed his jacket. "Ummm...what just happened?"

"It was the heat, and probably dehydration, too. Let's get you all some water and some shade, we'll continue after the sun sets." Kurenai decided, "So let's set up an awning here, and rest." She began to work, and Kiba, taking a big drink from his canteen, joined her. Shino continued his rock impression, holding Hinata in his arms.

_You three, wearing such heavy jackets in the desert? What were you thinking? _The Jonin didn't say, _Ah, well. What else could I expect from Team Heatstroke, here? _She watched her team fondly, Kiba gently taking Hinata from Shino, who continued to not move, and laying her in the shade, then picking Shino up, bridal style, and laying him out too, despite his fairly feeble protests. _And who would have thought that _Kiba _of all people was so nurturing?_ She thought it was cute, how he was holding the water for Shino.

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**A/N: Just something that came to me in my sleep-deprived haze. The muse is truly a fickle being... Well, chapter four of _DHaB?! _****Is my next project for real, this time. Honest.**


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